Woke up biked toward another beach town. We had a pretty day on quiet roads. A little scary highway time in the morning, but not too bad. Stopped and had crazy spicy dry fried chili chicken at a shack full of puppies, seriously, puppies squirming around all over the place. Shortly after the puppy breakfast we got off the highway and had fun on little roads. Google again directed us right off the road, and we wound up carrying the bikes along the beach and walking through a shrimp farm, which was exciting for everyone involved. Passed through the Sam Roi Yot park—big limestone formations and zillions of monkeys. I got a flat tire, the first of the trip—I had biked through something super thorny and had dozens of thorns all over my front tire. Stuart quickly patched it and we had some nice concerned onlookers who checked in on us.

Made it to a hotel on the north side of the park. Very nice, but once we showered and laid down, a beach party immediately started. We’d seen them setting up—big stage and all. So loud! So we bailed. No hotel staff to be found and we hadn’t paid yet, so after a confusing conversation with a Thai housekeeper, a Dutch guy, and a Thai lady, we left some cash and biked away from the noise. Wound up at some weird place called Sweet Honey, way back off the beach. Was totally fine but super odd, with stuffed animals all over the place. Swam in their pool (which had a strange optical illusion, looked about 6 inches deep) and walked down to the beach for dinner. Had sautéed greens with fish bits and great squid with curry, then headed back to the good ol’ Sweet Honey.